Ukraine and Russia have been fighting over the strategically important city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region for months. Image: AP / Libkos
Ukraine blog
The EU promised further help to the Ukrainian President Zelenskyj after his visit to Brussels. Russia has the Ukraine again massively attacked with drones and rockets on Friday and primarily targeted the energy infrastructure. Ukraine is demanding that the West supply fighter jets to defend itself against Russian airstrikes.
In our news blog you will find out everything you need to know about the latest developments in the war in Ukraine.
February 12th
11:28 a.m .: According to the Wagner boss, Russians control the suburb of Bachmut
According to its commander Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Russian private army Wagner captured a suburb of the embattled town of Bakhmut during the bloody battles in eastern Ukraine. The settlement of Krasna Hora in the Donetsk region was stormed by the Wagner fighters, Prigozhin said on Sunday. There was no confirmation from Ukraine.
Yevgeny Prigozhin leads the notorious Wagner mercenary group fighting for Russia in Bakhmut. Image: AP
At the same time, Prigozhin announced that his units would also take Bakhmut itself, about seven kilometers away. The fighting that has been going on there for months is considered particularly costly for both sides. The Ukrainian commander-in-chief, Valeriy Zalushnyi, had previously announced that the city was still under Kiev’s control.
The taking of Bakhmut is of strategic importance for the Russians in order to get closer to their war goal of a complete occupation of the Donetsk region. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed that everything would be done to push back the Russian aggressors.
5.01 a.m .: Bakhmut is said to be still under Ukrainian control
Despite heavy attacks by Russian troops, the Ukrainian armed forces maintain their control of the city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region, which has been fought over for days. Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Valeriy Zalushnyi said measures would be taken “to stabilize the front line around this city”. After a phone call with US Chief of Staff Mark Milley, he referred the situation in the Donetsk region as tense because Russia is carrying out up to 50 attacks there every day. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised the resistance of the soldiers.
In the Donetsk region, enemy attacks would be repelled, Zelenskyy said in his evening video message on Saturday. The commander-in-chief Zalushnyi had previously said: “In some sectors of the front we managed to regain previously lost positions and gain a foothold there.” At the same time he spoke of heavy fighting for the cities of Wuhledar and Marjinka.
February 11th
2:20 p.m .: According to Washington, Russia has lost half of its tanks
According to a senior representative of the US Department of Defense, Russia’s armed forces have already lost half of their main battle tanks in the Ukraine war. Moscow’s ground forces in Europe have been “significantly weakened” and there are already “tens of thousands of victims” on the Russian side, said Celeste Wallander, who is responsible for Europe, the Middle East and Africa responsible is.
This photo released by Ukraine shows damaged Russian tanks in a field near Wuhledar.Image: Ukrainian Armed Forces / Uncredited
According to estimates, around 80 percent of Russia’s ground forces are now involved in the aggressive war against Ukraine, she said. However, Wallander, whose rank in the Pentagon is roughly equivalent to that of Secretary of State, warned against underestimating Russia. Moscow is learning from the setbacks it has had so far and is adapting its tactics in the war, Wallander said on Friday at a think tank event in Washington, the Center for New American Security (CNAS). This was shown by the current fighting in eastern Ukraine.
10:11 a.m .: Baerbock warns of caution when delivering arms to Ukraine
In the debate about arms deliveries to Ukraine, Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) urged caution. These are “difficult decisions,” Baerbock told the Berlin “Tagesspiegel” (Saturday edition). “It’s not about toys, it’s about heavy war material. So it’s important to always carefully consider how we can best Life can protect.”
Asked about a possible delivery of fighter jets to Ukraine, Baerbock told the newspaper that “this is not a debate that we are having”. It is important “that previous decisions are implemented quickly”.
Most recently, several western countries had decided to supply battle tanks to Ukraine. In the past few days, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has again campaigned for more arms deliveries to his country, including fighter jets and longer-range missiles.
5:01 a.m.: Russian missiles damage Ukrainian energy grid
The latest wave of Russian missile attacks is again forcing emergency repairs to Ukraine’s power grid. Several thermal and hydroelectric power plants had been damaged, said the head of the energy supplier Ukrenerho, Volodymyr Kudryzkyj, on Ukrainian television on Friday evening. The power supply in the Kharkiv region looks particularly bad. Due to the instability in the Ukrainian power grid, a reactor unit at the Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plant had to be shut down, and production was throttled at the Rivne and southern Ukraine nuclear power plants.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the Russian attack with about 100 rockets and cruise missiles on Friday as a terror. In a video message, however, he told his compatriots how much support Ukraine had for his Trip to London, Paris and Brussels this week.
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2.34 a.m .: According to Kyiv, Russia used 71 cruise missiles
The danger from Russian missile attacks continued into Saturday night. In the capital Kyiv, the air alarm was triggered for the fifth time late on Friday evening. “There is a threat of an attack with drones,” said the military administration of the Kiev region. Iranian-made combat drones were also sighted and shot down over the Mykolaiv and Odessa regions in the south.
Symbolic picture: Russia is said to have fired the missiles from ships in the Black Sea.Image: Navy Visual News Service (NVNS) / Mc3 Jonathan Sunderman
According to the Ukrainian General Staff, the Russian army has used 71 cruise missiles in the attacks since Friday morning. 61 of them were intercepted. The cruise missiles were fired from Russian ships in the Black Sea and from aircraft. In addition, according to the preliminary count, Russia used 29 missiles of the S-300 system, which was actually intended for air defense, against ground targets in Ukraine. The information could not be independently verified.
You can find older news about the war in Ukraine here.
(nik/with material from dpa/AFP)
“How can we bring peace into the world if we don’t have peace within us?” Mother Teresa asked herself many such questions during her lifetime. About love, about suffering in the world, about hunger, about war and peace.
